This is a version of the No-mans land Mini-Campaign adapted to Fogo Cruzado, my variant of Crossfire for the Portuguese Colonial War of the 1960s and 1970s. It is based on my previous thinking for No-mans land – A Crossfire Campaign and the Way of War in Portuguese Africa.
Portuguese Colonial War
Portugal was the first European country to arrive in Africa and the last to leave. Between 1961 and 1974 Portugal conducted three simultaneous campaigns in Guinea-Bissau, Angola and Mozambique – collectively called the Portuguese Colonial War (Guerra Colonial) or Overseas War (Guerra do Ultramar). It was Portugal’s first major war since World War I. The Colonial War was small scale and involved the Portuguese manning and supplying fortified posts whilst trying to locate and destroy small guerrilla bands with intervention units (unidades de intervenço). The war is sometime described, particularly by Portuguese participants, as the Vietnam in Africa.
Portuguese Panhard AML-60 Armoured Car
The Portuguese used a variety of equipment, both foreign and local made, during the Portuguese Colonial War and n the mid-1960s the Portuguese acquired a batch of Panhard AML-60 Armoured Cars for their reconnaissance squadrons. These vehicles have a mortar as the main armament, an unusual weapon for an armoured car, so I thought I’d do some research on them.
Spencer and Machado on Portuguese Paratroopers
The Portuguese paratroopers were amongst the first to see action during the Portuguese Colonial War in 1961 and were amongst the last to pull out in 1975 (Spencer & Machado, 1992). They achieved an impressive 20:1 kill ratio, i.e. 20 insurgents killed for the loss of one paratrooper. Although it was more like 3:1 for casualties in general.
Al J Venter on the Portuguese Colonial War
I’ve just got all the books by Al J. Venter I could find … at least those related the Portuguese Colonial War. Al Venter is unique – a journalist, with military experience himself, willing to go into the combat zone with the Portuguese security forces, who then wrote about his experiences. The result is a set of books with rich descriptions of real life conditions in the field in Africa during the 1960s and 1970s.
These books are not general histories. For an overview of the war you’ll have to look else where. They are first hand accounts of the war from the Portuguese stand point by an informed but independent observer.
I thought I’d type up my notes for all of Al’s books in one place.
Vehicles of the Portuguese Armed Forces
I saw this post by Cassius on the New Rhodesian forum. I don’t know the original source of this information.
Foreign Equipment Obtained by Portugal 1950 to 2009
I saw this post by Cassius on the New Rhodesian forum. It cites the SIPRI Arms Transfers Database for foreign deliveries from 1950 to 2009.
Portuguese Army List for Cold War Commander
I’m thinking of using Cold War Commander for the Portuguese Colonial War but the rules don’t have a Portuguese Army List. So I wrote my own. It is based on my Portuguese Order of Battle. I’ve adopted the updated army list format of Blitzkrieg Commander (2009) with AT and AP being separate and a CA column.
Animal Blinds: Ghosts in the African Darkness
For the Portuguese Colonial War – set in Africa – I used Wild Animals as my Blinds. Lion, Tiger, Giraffe, Rhino, Croc, African Cow, Hippo, Ostrich, Antelope, Warthog, Hyena and Ape on a tree. This is also a nod to the movie “Ghosts in the Darkness” where some supposedly supernatural lions kills a whole bunch of people in southern Africa.
Stevens Insurgents for the Portuguese Colonial War
This is my Insurgent ‘army’ for the Portuguese Colonial War. I’m also painting a Portuguese force.
Unit IDs: How I distinguish my Portuguese Colonial War units
I’m still debating what rules to use for the Portuguese Colonial War but I am likely to start with something from Two Hour Wargames or Two Page Skirmish Rules. Both of which use individual based figures with individual characteristics. Because of that I have uniquely identified each figure with a label similar to those I use for Battalion Code in my Crossfire Unit IDs.
Steven’s Portuguese for the Portuguese Colonial War on Individual Bases
This is my Portuguese ‘army’ for the Portuguese Colonial War. I’m also painting a generic Insurgent force.
1-to-1 Skirmish Campaign for the Portuguese Colonial War
Rules for a Portuguese Colonial War campaign game with some kind of 1-to-1 skirmish rules, like Freakin’ New Guy (FNG) by Two Hour Wargames or a variation on Two Page Skirmish Rules (TPSR) or Troops, Weapons and Tactics (TW&T) by the Two Fat Lardies, as the tactical rules.
Crossfire Order of Battle for the Portuguese Colonial War
These are the orders of battle for Fogo Cruzado my Crossfire variant of for the Portuguese Colonial War of the 1960s and 1970s. They are based on the historical orders of battle. As Fogo Cruzado is more or less 1:1 scale the basic stand is a Fire Team rather than a Squad. Similarly heavier weapons such as Medium Machine Guns (MMG) are individual weapons rather than sections of 2 or 3.
Musing on fieldCraft, concealment, and tracking in Fogo Cruzado
Fieldcraft, concealment, and tracking were major features of African conflicts. So I though I’d see what that could look like in Fogo Cruzado, my Crossfire variant for the Portuguese Colonial War. The rules are quite complicated and I’m not sure they would survive play testing. None-the-less they provide a starting point. At some point these rules might return to my Fogo Cruzado: Crossfire House Rules for the Portuguese Colonial War or, more likely, appear as a special rule for a specific scenario perhaps “Patrol” or “Search and Destroy”.
Combat Missions in the Portuguese Colonial War
Combat missions of the Portuguese Colonial War, both Portuguese and insurgent